The legislation, which has the support of both an impressive roster of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle and craft brewers, would tweak the "three-tiered system" established in the wake of Prohibition and allow, among other things, small breweries to bypass distributors and sell directly to retailers. It was, as Tyler Republican Senator Kevin Eltife put it, a way to "level the playing field for the small business segment of the Texas brewery industry."

Signing onto the bills seemed like a canny move on Carona's part, because beer. But almost as soon as the legislation appeared, Carona removed his name from the list of sponsors and filed craft beer legislation of his own in the form of SB 639.

How to explain Carona's abrupt about-face? Cynics might point to the tens of thousands of dollars that have poured into Carona's campaign till from the likes of the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas PAC, Barry Andrews of Andrews Distributing, and others.

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Carona would like to disabuse you of that notion.

"My support of craft beer is well known. ... The bill I filed is a step along the path to passage of comprehensive legislation," he said in a press release issued Friday. "We are remiss if we do not take the long and wide view on these important provisions. Provisions such as reach back pricing, the alteration of a price by a manufacturer based on the price a distributor charges a retailer. This practice borders on price-fixing and must be addressed."